When batteries are installed in a fan, and the fan is turned on, the fan does work. When placed on top of a cart, the fan does work on the cart, which causes it to move. The volts in the batteries supply the fan with energy. This energy is converted to force, which is used to propel the cart, which, in turn, does work on the cart. The purpose of this lab is to find out how each battery affects the force of the fan. We hypothesize that the each battery increases the fan’s force.
Procedure
The mass of the plastic cart, the fan, a battery, and a conductor were found. The thickness of the duct tape flag was found. The photogate was placed 60 centimeters from the end of the track and connected to the laptop. The total mass of the cart, the fan, and the 4 batteries was found. A ruler was placed in front of the fan, the fan was turned on, then the cart was released. LoggerPro was used to collect the gate times as the cart passed through the photogate for 5 trials. The process was repeated with 3 batteries and 1 conductor, and 2 batteries and 2 conductors. The velocity, kinetic energy, work, and force were found for each trial using the gate time. These numbers were then used to find the average velocity and average force for each data set. The average force from each data set was used to find an equation that related the force of the fan to the number of batteries.
Results
We observed that as batteries were added, the velocity of the cart increased, therefore causing the kinetic energy and work output to increase. With the increase in work, the output force increased accordingly.
Batteries
Force (N)
2
0.0130
3
0.0284
4
0.0569
Figure 1: Graph of Number of Batteries vs. Average Output Force
Conclusions
We found that for every battery added to the fan, the output force increase according to the equation y=0.0041x^2-0.0023x, with x representing the number of batteries and y representing the force exerted. Therefore, with every 1.5 volt battery added to the fan, the output force increases quadratically. An explanation of this could be due to the nature of the motor, in which there is not a one-to-one ratio between input voltage and output force. However, with only three points of data, it is possible that there could be some other type of relationship between voltage and force, such as linear. A potential source of error affecting our results could be differences in the actual voltage of the batteries, which would affect the velocity of the cart. Another potential source of error could be the slight slant we detected in the floor of the classroom, which would have caused the cat to accelerate due to gravity or to have to work against it. This project could be improved upon by performing more trials with more batteries and correcting the sources of error.
Table of Contents
Finding the Force Exerted by a Battery
Claire, Janay, Jeffery, Thomas
Introduction
When batteries are installed in a fan, and the fan is turned on, the fan does work. When placed on top of a cart, the fan does work on the cart, which causes it to move. The volts in the batteries supply the fan with energy. This energy is converted to force, which is used to propel the cart, which, in turn, does work on the cart. The purpose of this lab is to find out how each battery affects the force of the fan. We hypothesize that the each battery increases the fan’s force.
Procedure
The mass of the plastic cart, the fan, a battery, and a conductor were found. The thickness of the duct tape flag was found. The photogate was placed 60 centimeters from the end of the track and connected to the laptop. The total mass of the cart, the fan, and the 4 batteries was found. A ruler was placed in front of the fan, the fan was turned on, then the cart was released. LoggerPro was used to collect the gate times as the cart passed through the photogate for 5 trials. The process was repeated with 3 batteries and 1 conductor, and 2 batteries and 2 conductors. The velocity, kinetic energy, work, and force were found for each trial using the gate time. These numbers were then used to find the average velocity and average force for each data set. The average force from each data set was used to find an equation that related the force of the fan to the number of batteries.
Results
We observed that as batteries were added, the velocity of the cart increased, therefore causing the kinetic energy and work output to increase. With the increase in work, the output force increased accordingly.
Figure 1: Graph of Number of Batteries vs. Average Output Force
Conclusions
We found that for every battery added to the fan, the output force increase according to the equation y=0.0041x^2-0.0023x, with x representing the number of batteries and y representing the force exerted. Therefore, with every 1.5 volt battery added to the fan, the output force increases quadratically. An explanation of this could be due to the nature of the motor, in which there is not a one-to-one ratio between input voltage and output force. However, with only three points of data, it is possible that there could be some other type of relationship between voltage and force, such as linear. A potential source of error affecting our results could be differences in the actual voltage of the batteries, which would affect the velocity of the cart. Another potential source of error could be the slight slant we detected in the floor of the classroom, which would have caused the cat to accelerate due to gravity or to have to work against it. This project could be improved upon by performing more trials with more batteries and correcting the sources of error.